In the afternoon, the sky seemed gloomy, and since last night, rain had started pouring down like a torrent. The rain didn’t stop until the next day, leaving large and small puddles all over the streets outside. According to the weather forecast, the rain would stop by nighttime, but even now, when the day was drawing to a close, it was still pouring as if the sky had a large hole in it.

“If only I had come yesterday…… then at least I could have used the rain as an excuse not to go out. If I hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t have witnessed that horrible sight, and I wouldn’t be lying here now……”

Jeong Taeui lay face down on the bed, looking out the window, and muttered to himself.

“Even if I didn’t go out, at least I could have brought home a pretty, cute girl. Shima Qinwei is not someone who can abstain from sex for even a day.”

He thought he was alone in the empty room, but suddenly from behind him, a voice spoke, startling Jeong Taeui as he turned around. Before he realized it, Alain had quietly entered without a sound.

“I really hate these guys. If they want to, they can sneak in like ghosts.” – Jeong Taeui lightly rubbed his chest, which was pounding, and glanced at Alain with annoyance.

“Why are you here?”

“Just to keep an eye on you. Why do you even ask?”

Alain replied with a cheeky grin. As he said, Jeong Taeui’s room was no longer his. Alain, Aquino, and Ilay frequently came quietly and left just to glance into his room. Indeed, this was the price to pay for breaking the contract and running away in the middle of it. Although he knew it was inevitable, every time he accidentally made eye contact with someone peeking into the room, he felt uneasy. And so far, the person he most often made eye contact with was Aquino, who constantly came to check out Jeong Taeui’s room.

“Why not just install surveillance cameras? ……Oh, where’s Aquino?”

“Well, he’s gone out to buy cameras.”

“…….”

Jeong Taeui thought: ‘If I could just pinch that cheeky smiling face, it would probably feel pretty satisfying.’ Alain stepped over to the window, looked out at the pouring rain, and said:

“It’s probably because the rain is too heavy that the internet connection is unstable. He said he had something that required web access, so he just went out a while ago.”

Having heard those words, Jeong Taeui immediately jumped out of bed and stepped out.

“Great. Just when I wanted to have a cup of coffee.”

Jeong Taeui scratched his head vigorously and walked out of the room, Alain raised an eyebrow and followed him back.

“Huh? You’re feeling better, huh? Last night you were up all night with Rick, and today you’ve been moaning in pain and bedridden.”

“No way. Sleeping with that guy isn’t just a one- or two-day thing, so suddenly bedridden from pain? He’s probably just using this as an excuse to not go out or call anyone today.”

“Ahaha” – Alain laughed heartily. Jeong Taeui stretched happily after staying in bed all day, but suddenly he stopped mid-stretch, bending over in pain and groaning…… He wasn’t bedridden, but his lower body ached all day, making his walk limping. It seemed his butt had swollen up, feeling very hot and sore. From experience, it would probably still ache tomorrow.

Last night, they had gone overboard after a long time. As Ilay had just returned from a business trip, they were making up for lost time every night, and last night was no different; even after just a few days, it was still excessive.

Jeong Taeui couldn’t remember how many times Ilay had entered his body, let alone how many times during that period Ilay had put Taeui’s ‘little bro’ into his mouth. As if trying to cleanse something dirty, Ilay continuously licked, sucked, and used his teeth to scrape against Jeong Taeui’s penis. And just as Ilay had warned, even when there wasn’t a single drop left to come out, Jeong Taeui still had to endure until late at night. Finally, Taeui cried and shouted until his throat went hoarse, repeatedly mumbling: “I won’t even bother looking at those pretty young guys anymore, if you didn’t suck, I wouldn’t feel anything at all.” and he passed out.

“……”

The lower part of his body still ached. Not only had his buttocks been broken countless times, but the most painful was the ‘little bro’. After a whole night of torment, simply rubbing against the fabric made it feel burning, so he removed his underwear and wore only a loose pair of pants.

When Jeong Taeui slowly stepped into the kitchen, massaging his back, a guest had already arrived. Ilay sat at the table, drinking coffee and looking at a tablet. Seeing Jeong Taeui, he laughed.

“It seems you can walk again now, huh?”

“Do you know how difficult you’ve made it for me?”

Jeong Taeui grumbled in a pouty manner, pouring hot coffee from the pot – Ilay seemed to have just made it – and sat down facing him. When he sat down, the fabric of his pants rubbed against his groin, causing Taeui to grimace and shrink back.

“You said the internet connection is unstable, yet you can still access it?”

Jeong Taeui pointed to the tablet Ilay was holding and asked. Ilay didn’t take his eyes off the screen, occasionally tapping lightly on it, then nodded.

“Sort of.”

“Aquino said he couldn’t access it, so he went out.”

“Probably…… he has other things to do.”

Ilay shrugged lightly and drank his coffee. Alain also sat down next to them and picked an apple from the basket on the table.

“But it’s really amazing. After being tormented by Rick all night, you still managed to get up and walk the next day. Even though you’re used to it, having that big thing rammed into you like that…… Aquino thought your ass would be torn apart and unable to move.”

“Yeah, let him think that. Even if he’s a sex addict, he wouldn’t call someone to make love in such a bodily condition.”

Jeong Taeui replied curtly to Alain, who was grinning while biting the apple. Suddenly, Taeui closed his mouth, sank into thought for a moment, and then mumbled.

“I don’t really like that guy.”

“Aquino? Haha, because he was clearly happy seeing you bedridden in pain?”

“No, it’s not that. Anyway, Shima Qinwei is a bastard unworthy of being human, so I don’t really care. But more than that, maybe it’s……”

‘His gaze always seems probing, always trying to dig deep to find something that makes me uncomfortable.’

Aquino always looked at them with such a gaze. Especially Jeong Taeui. Moreover, he always seemed worried about something. Taeui knew what it was. It was because of the code.

Even today, he had repeatedly peeked into Jeong Taeui’s room and indirectly asked Taeui to secretly probe:

“— Is the decoding making good progress? You’re relaxed enough to just lie around like this?”

“— Do you know the deadline is tomorrow? The client has been waiting too long and is reaching their limit. If it goes past the deadline, you’ll face unimaginable terrible consequences.”

Aquino scrutinized every corner of Jeong Taeui’s face, as if trying to extract something, then walked away. Each time, Jeong Taeui maintained a calm expression facing him, but his back was drenched in cold sweat.

“It seems he’s very worried. Because of that code.”

“It’s been months. Aquino is in an intermediary position, so he has enough reason to be anxious. Besides, the time for the code to change is approaching. If that happens, all the decoding efforts so far will be in vain. The time to access the code from outside is also limited. ——Therefore, no matter what happens, the code must be decoded before tomorrow night.”

Jeong Taeui took a sip of coffee and muttered: “Tomorrow, huh……” For him, it was just three days of being caught up, but for those who have been pursuing this work for a long time, it was the last three days after relentless efforts. So it’s no wonder Aquino is so worried.

“In that case, Ilay will also finish this. ……But what if the code isn’t decoded by tomorrow?”

When Jeong Taeui asked, Ilay temporarily took his eyes off the tablet, looked at him, and smiled gently as if it was nothing important.

“Anyway, my work is done. I already know who the client is this time——Aquino’s client. Just waiting for Aquino to hand over the code decoding to him to get irrefutable evidence, but the result is already convincing enough for my client.”

“Ah, I see.” – Jeong Taeui replied with a slightly sarcastic tone. No wonder this guy isn’t tense at all. Come to think of it, Taeui had never seen Ilay in a state of tension.

‘Hmm, does this guy even know what stress is……’ – Jeong Taeui looked intently at Ilay and thought. He couldn’t imagine it.

At that moment, Ilay, who was typing on the tablet, suddenly chuckled: “Aha……”. He typed a few more times and then giggled.

“Faster than expected.”

“What? Is the decoding done?”

Jeong Taeui asked, thinking there might have been a message from Jeong Jaeui, but instead of answering, Ilay just looked straight at him for a moment. The enigmatic smile at the corner of his mouth made him feel uneasy.

“I have placed an information search lock for the people around me. So that no one can easily find out or search. But it seems like someone touched it this morning. There are still traces left behind. ……Let’s see……, it’s not yet to the point of breaching the protective layer but……”

Ilay typed on the tablet while mumbling and then laughed. Alain, eating an apple, kept his usual cheerful face and spoke up:

“It feels like playing blind man’s bluff.”

“Either they suspect ‘Shima Qinwei’, or they are suspecting me or you.”

“I’ve completed all the tasks assigned and now I’m just sitting here watching?”

Although Alain tried to assert his innocence, Jeong Taeui felt the reliability was reduced by half because of his wide grin.

“Do you think that in the current situation, there’s something suspicious?”

Ilay put the tablet down, propped his hand on his head and leaned back. Just listening to the conversation was enough to feel the air full of danger, but Ilay showed no tension, while Alain kept giggling and munching on the apple.

“Anyway, if the code is deciphered according to plan by tomorrow, it doesn’t matter if the person here is ‘Jeong Taeui’ or ‘Shima Qinwei’.”

At that moment, Alain tossed the apple core into the trash and giggled.

Outside, the sound of dogs barking furiously echoed. Following it was an angry yell. It was Aquino’s voice.

The three of them looked at each other for a moment, then without saying a word, they stood up and walked towards the source of the noise, without any sense of urgency. Only Jeong Taeui, pretending to have a discomforted body, walked slowly, limping behind.

Outside, the rain was still pouring down in torrents, and the direction of Aquino’s shout was towards the back of the house.

Behind the warehouse, where it was deserted and rarely passed by, a few dogs were barking loudly, a security guard holding a leash, and next to him was Aquino standing and looking down at the ground.

“What’s going on?”

When Ilay approached and asked them, but stopped a few steps away. Alain peeked over Ilay’s shoulder and also stopped. Jeong Taeui, who was the last to arrive, also tilted his head to look over when there was a silence among them, only the sound of rain and barking dogs remained. And Taeui saw a pile of soil being messily dug, soaked with rain.

There is a large plastic bag exposed inside a wide pit, deep enough to contain one or two people, that had been messily dug up. It seemed to have just been pulled out from under the ground, so the plastic bag was covered in dirty mud. Originally, it must have been transparent, but now it was filthy and filled with condensation inside, making it hard to see clearly; however, from what could be observed, it was enough to recognize that there were humans inside the bag.

“What is this?”

Aquino turned back to look at them with a distorted face, spat on the ground, then immediately pulled a folding knife from his pocket and tore open the thick plastic bag. Instantly, a foul stench rose, revealing two bluish-gray corpses.

Jeong Taeui quickly recognized them as the people he had seen on his first day here. Shima Qinwei and the naked woman lying dead beside him. In his heart, he murmured, but he didn’t show any emotion, only standing by and observing as Aquino flipped the corpses in front of him.

Both corpses were so disfigured that they were unrecognizable. The fingerprints on their hands and feet were also destroyed. Jeong Taeui frowned as he looked at them, his eyes following Aquino as he flipped the corpses and examined them thoroughly, then suddenly raised his eyebrows. Just like the woman, who was injured all over her body, including her private parts, and showed signs of strangulation around her neck, the male corpse was similarly injured. The lower part of the body was crushed.

Jeong Taeui was thinking that this man was definitely Shima Qinwei because of his physique, when Alain calmly spoke up.

“But why dig them up? I went through the trouble of burying them.”

Aquino glared at Alain.

“You did it?”

“Yes, I buried them. When I found Shima here, both were already dead. Anyway, I couldn’t let anything happen until the code was deciphered. So I buried them immediately.”

Alain casually glanced at Jeong Taeui and then turned back to Aquino. And this time, Aquino turned to look at Jeong Taeui. His wide eyes clearly showed suspicion.

“Did you do it?”

“——Well…… temporarily, yes……”

Jeong Taeui awkwardly replied, then looked down at the corpses.

Indeed. Both of these corpses were victims of Shima Qinwei. Shima engaged in sadistic sexual activities and ultimately killed them. The woman, and this man as well.

“Why is the face smashed like that?”

Aquino still looked at Taeui with eyes full of suspicion and asked fiercely. Jeong Taeui shrugged: “I don’t know either, but I didn’t do it.” Alain, as if anticipating this, promptly replied: “I did it because I was afraid someone might dig them up. If the victims’ identities were revealed too quickly, things would be more complicated.”

“I put so much effort into burying them, why would I have to dig them up? And how did you know they were buried here?”

As Alain asked, Aquino was silent for a moment and then answered tersely:

“Probably because heavy rain eroded the soil. The dog barked, so I dug it up, and unexpectedly found this.”

“Heavy rain causing soil erosion? This isn’t a hillside.”

“Probably because the soil was freshly dug not long ago, so it’s still soft.”

Aquino replied in an irritated tone, seemingly unwilling to say more, then turned to glare at the corpses—the dead man’s corpse.

With eyes full of suspicion, he observed the corpse for a while but ultimately found nothing unusual, so he clicked his tongue in frustration and then turned to look at Jeong Taeui with aggression.

“You perverted murderer, did you kill two more people? You bastard!”

Aquino glared directly at Jeong Taeui, spat on the ground, and left. He walked decisively, his back seemingly trembling with anger.

Watching Aquino’s figure as he entered the house and slammed the door, Alain turned to the security staff and said: “Bury them again. Tsk tsk, why do such redundant things?” Then he hurriedly gathered the plastic bags. Jeong Taeui turned to look at Ilay. Ilay was looking toward where Aquino had just gone with a faint smile, then locked eyes with Jeong Taeui.

“If examined, they would probably identify them.”

Jeong Taeui gestured toward the mound of earth with a nod, and Ilay lightly shrugged.

“Certainly no results before tomorrow.”

“I was wondering why you were out so long, turns out it was because of this. Tsk tsk, it’s a hassle to bury them and then dig them up again.”

At that moment, Alain washed the dirt off his hands with rainwater and came closer. Still grinning broadly despite clicking his tongue, he said as if nothing happened: “It’s really pouring, isn’t it.” Then he stepped into the house. Ilay didn’t care one bit and nodded his chin to signal Jeong Taeui to come in as well.

Jeong Taeui, who was feeling heavy and had a bitter taste in his mouth, suddenly realized that he was the strangest person in this situation, and this had nothing to do with him. Thinking so, he decided to brush it off and headed towards the house. But just a few steps later,

“——Hic……”

He buckled down, swallowing saliva between his teeth.

The rain-soaked fabric of his pants clung tightly to his skin, causing the pain he had temporarily forgotten to resurface. Jeong Taeui groaned, trying to peel off the pants that clung to him, when Ilay, walking a few steps behind, suddenly laughed softly and whistled.

“Oh…… I just noticed, it seems you’re not wearing underwear, huh?”

Jeong Taeui followed Ilay’s gaze, which was blatantly staring at the lower part of his body, and realized his groin was visible under the thin, soaked pants clinging to his skin. Probably his buttocks were also similarly being intensely watched by Ilay.

“Dressing like this is more seductive than just taking it off. Indeed, you’ve gotten used to the role of an exhibitionist, huh.”

Ilay looked straight at Jeong Taeui’s groin, the corner of his mouth slightly lifting. Taeui remained squatting silently until he leisurely walked over to stand right beside him. The moment he stood close, Jeong Taeui mustered all his strength to kick him in the shin.

‘Bastard, whose fault is it anyway, this guy doesn’t know what remorse is, wicked guy……’

A variety of crude words surged up to his throat, but Taeui couldn’t say them, not only because someone was watching him.

The strong kick to the shin caused the pant fabric to rub violently against his groin, making Taeui groan: “Eughhh……” and curl up on the spot.

**************

It was the third day.

Jeong Taeui thought it was short for him, but for someone else, the long days would end today. Then he changed his mind: ‘Oh no, it’s quite long for me too……’

The rain had stopped, but the sky was still overcast. The forecast said the sky would clear tonight, but yesterday they also forecasted that the rain would stop by night, yet it actually didn’t stop until early morning, so who knows if the sky would really clear tonight.

Perhaps the sky needed to be clearer, both the weather and the mood.

Jeong Taeui was drinking coffee in the dining room when he glanced at the tightly closed door inside the living room. That was Aquino’s room. Since last night, that door had been tightly shut and hadn’t opened. Sometimes there were loud shouts as if he was talking on the phone with someone, but then it quieted down.

Until yesterday, Aquino often glanced into Jeong Taeui’s room, but today he hardly left his room. Although it wasn’t a face he wanted to see, when he disappeared like that, it made him feel uneasy. When was the last time he saw him…… Jeong Taeui was unconsciously trying to recall until he stopped while drinking his coffee. Ah, he remembered. It was early this morning. He had seen him in his sleep.

At midnight, he woke up feeling thirsty and went to the dining room. It was not yet dawn, and it was still dark outside. Jeong Taeui groped through the dim and bluish darkness to get to the dining room. When he accidentally glanced around the living room, his heart nearly stopped.

Aquino was sitting on the sofa, without any sound or movement, no sign of how long he had been sitting there. He sat hunched, resting his chin on his interlaced hands, motionless, looking eerie and gloomy in the darkness.

It seemed Aquino hadn’t slept and was sitting there all night, his gloomy face looking even darker. He stopped his gaze in front of the dining room, glanced at Jeong Taeui who was standing frozen, and then slowly stood up from his seat and moved towards him.

“The code.”

“——.”

“You’re decoding it, right? You must be almost done by now.”

Aquino asked in a low tone. When Jeong Taeui didn’t answer immediately, his eyes flickered in the darkness.

“Today is the last day. Until midnight tonight. If you don’t decipher the code before then——I’ll cut off each of your toes. Until your body is torn into a thousand pieces.”

Aquino’s low voice echoed with impatience. The veins on his forehead were prominent. That bastard stared straight at Jeong Taeui with blazing eyes, then slowly turned away. And he walked into the room and closed the door.

“……”

Jeong Taeui continued to stare intently at the tightly closed door. Yes, then he drank some water and went back to bed feeling like he had just endured a nightmare.

Buried memories suddenly resurfaced, causing Jeong Taeui to sip with a bitter mouth and then take a gulp of coffee. At that moment, Alain, who had just rummaged through the refrigerator and taken out an apple, approached and patted him on the shoulder.

“What’s with that expression? Or is there cat poop in the coffee or something?”

“Hmm…… That would be better……”

Jeong Taeui mumbled heavily, then drank the remaining coffee in one go. Then, he glanced at Ilay, who was sitting at the table beside him. And then lowered his voice to ask:

“What about hyung? Is the decoding process going smoothly?”

Ilay was silent for a moment. His fingers, tapping on the tablet, slowed noticeably.

“Hmm…… this is more complicated than I thought.” (Narrating Jaeui’s words)

“…… When?”

“This morning.”

Jeong Taeui frowned slightly. “Then it’s troublesome……” – He muttered under his breath, his fingers unconsciously tapping the empty cup.

Ilay’s slow tone was also a clear sign that his mood wasn’t good, but more importantly, if Jeong Jaeui didn’t say he would complete it by a certain time and instead used such vague terms, it meant the task was truly complicated and unpredictable.

……Troublesome indeed.

“What if the decryption isn’t finished today?”

“Like I said, no matter the result, my work will end. It just won’t wrap up neatly.”

Ilay slightly curled his lips. It could be considered a smile, but it didn’t hold any joy. Jeong Taeui mumbled: “I see……” then looked out the window. The sky was gray, perhaps because of the gloomy weather, his mood didn’t improve either. Everything felt heavy and unpleasant. The only thing seemingly bright was Alain’s face, the guy who was smiling, munching on an apple, muttering: “This damn weather’s acting up again.”

“Aquino is quieter than I thought.”

Jeong Taeui mumbled, glancing at the tightly closed door. Since last night, after digging up the corpse in the backyard, he hadn’t said anything about it. Taeui thought he would have some reaction, but no, there was nothing at all. The only thing reflecting his thoughts was the gloomy expression Taeui had glimpsed at dawn.

“No matter how suspicious or shady it is, he still believes that somehow, the code will be solved. Otherwise, all this farce would be meaningless.”

Alain chuckled while munching on a crunchy apple. His narrow, long, and curved eyes, which were directed out the window, now glanced at Jeong Taeui.

“He must be thinking that all these shady troubles are because someone wants to target the decryption. Will the code be completed on time? Will someone snatch it away? He’s tense because of that.”

“For him, nothing is more important than decoding.” – Alain mumbled and took a bite of the crunchy apple, still looking as cheerful as ever. That face always seemed to be smirking, to the point where it made people want to punch it. But today, when both the weather and mood were off, having someone appear cheerful like this seemed less stifling.

Jeong Taeui pulled out a chair and sat down, then glanced at the clock. It was almost late afternoon. Just 1-2 more hours and it could be considered evening, and with this gloomy sky, it would probably get dark quickly.

‘Hope Jaeui-hyung will finish decoding today……’

That thought just crossed his mind when Jeong Taeui remembered Jeong Jaeui’s words earlier, making his heart heavy.

At that moment, the phone on the table vibrated. It was Ilay’s phone. He checked the screen, raised an eyebrow slightly, and answered.

“Is it solved yet?”

The blunt question, without a greeting, was enough for Jeong Taeui to guess who the caller was. It was Jeong Jaeui. Although he couldn’t hear the content clearly, the calm tone from the phone was all too familiar.

Perhaps it was an announcement that it was solved? But seeing how Ilay listened silently, saying nothing for a long time, it seemed not. Occasionally, questions arose:

“What does that mean?”

“Explain more clearly.”

“When is the deadline?”

Such questioning…… seemed to imply that things weren’t over yet.

“Alright, I’ll get back to you later.”

The call ended with a short response. After a moment of focusing on the now dark phone screen and sinking into thought, Alain glanced over and asked Ilay:

“What did he say?”

Ilay remained silent for a long time, as if contemplating something, then suddenly glanced at Jeong Taeui. When he noticed that look, Jeong Taeui blinked a few times and pointed at himself.

“Do I have to do something?”

“No…… it’s not that.”

Ilay shook his head, his finger tapping lightly on the table. Judging by the rhythm of the tapping, he seemed quite restless for a moment, as if he didn’t like the situation. A long while later, when Alain frowned and asked again: “What? What did he say?”, Ilay finally opened his mouth.

“To decode the cipher, you need a linking code. It’s a code related to a specific time and place. Hearing the conditions he mentioned, it seems finding this code won’t be too difficult. Based on those conditions, I guess this is one of the top-secret codes. But if it’s through my trustee, it probably won’t be too hard to obtain. If we have that code and give it to Jeong Jay, he said the rest of the cipher will be solved very quickly……”

Ilay left his sentence hanging and frowned as if something was bothering him.

“What? Not enough time?”

“No, if I contact the trustee, I can get the linking code immediately. The only concern is how quickly Jeong Jay can decode it once it’s received. But from what he said, it doesn’t seem worrying.”

“Then what?”

“That linking code is definitely a top-secret one. And if so, I can’t receive it inside this house.”

Ilay tapped lightly on his tablet while nonchalantly adding: “The security system here isn’t enough to handle data of that level.” Then he looked straight at Jeong Taeui.

“It seems like I’ll have to go out for a while.”

Ilay mumbled as if talking to himself, but his attentive gaze on Jeong Taeui carried an indescribable hesitation. Seeing that, Jeong Taeui slightly tilted his head.

“Is it because of me?——Do you think just taking your eyes off me for a bit means I’ll take the opportunity to run away?”

The statement seemed like a joke, but Jeong Taeui’s face was strangely serious. As expected, Ilay chuckled softly at those words. Then without any hesitation, he stood up.

“Even if I have to bury myself at the bottom of hell, I’ll find you——Alain, watch over him carefully. Don’t let even a single strand of hair be harmed.”

“No…… I can at least take care of myself……”

“Although I used to be quite a warrior…… It’s just that compared to monsters like you guys, there’s nothing to brag about.” – Jeong Taeui muttered in dissatisfaction, but before he could complain further, Ilay reached out and gently patted his head. And then, true to his style, once he decided, he didn’t hesitate, Ilay straightforwardly walked away.

“I’ll be back before midnight.”

Ilay glanced at the clock and left those words, then swiftly stepped outside. Not long after, the sound of a departing car echoed, growing fainter, and then completely vanished.

Now the house was left with only Jeong Taeui and Alain. The two blinked at each other for a moment.

Alain still chewed on the crunchy apple, his eyes still fixed on Jeong Taeui. Then, as if he had just come up with a good idea, he flashed a slightly mischievous smile.

“A nap until evening is just perfect. By midnight, when he returns, we can enjoy ourselves comfortably beforehand.”

Jeong Taeui shrugged, smiled slightly, and then nodded in agreement.